Author Archives: wedgeblog

About wedgeblog

Claire Baiz is a columnist for Signature Montana, a featured editorial writer for The Great Falls Tribune, and a regular contributor to the Folio award winning jeweler’s trade magazine InStore. Claire has written for niche and trade magazines, both online and in print. Contact Claire via e-mail at clairebaiz@gmail.com

Pardon Me… Do I Know You?

Posted on 04/23/2013 by wedgeblog

(Reprinted with permission from Signature Montana Magazine)http://www.signaturemontana.com/ Welcome to Great Falls, Montana, birthplace of Linda Ann Hopkins and Sheila Young. If those names aren’t familiar, maybe you’ve heard of Tera Patrick or Victoria Paris? These two women are near the … Continue reading →

Posted in Caution: You've Been wEdged | Tagged buddy sosthand, corn palace, famous people from great falls montana, gerald molen, great falls montana, great falls natives, pornography, signature montana magazine, tera patrick, victoria paris, wylie gustafson | 1 Comment

Your Salsa is from New York City? My New Yorker Comes from Boone, Iowa.

Posted on 02/03/2013 by wedgeblog

The first letter came without a threat last May, in a plain white envelope. It was from the subscription department at the New Yorker with a return address in Boone, Iowa. I felt like one of those cowboys around … Continue reading →

Posted in CLAIRE THE CRITIC | Tagged conde nast, consumer advocacy, corporate responsibility, distribution, hearst publishing, jim pattison co., magazine distribution, magazine renewal, magazine renewal scams, new yorker magazine, publishing | 1 Comment

Posted on 01/26/2013 by wedgeblog

Movie Tickets as Tacit Endorsements or How to Review a Movie You’ve Never Seen Check out my hubpages blog for a commentary on Zero Dark Thirty. www.http://baizblogger.hubpages.com/hub/To-See-or-Not-to-See-Movie-Tickets-as-Endorsements-Zero-Dark-Thirty

Posted in CLAIRE THE CRITIC | Tagged dick cheney, hollywood exploitation, manipulative films, movie review zero dark thirty, movies, osama bin laden, torture, zero dark thirty | Leave a comment

Check out my Hubpages Blog…

Posted on 11/10/2012 by wedgeblog

http://baizblogger.hubpages.com/hub/The-Dark-Side-of-Couponing-How-Dashing-for-Deals-is-Dow-Chemicals-Dream

Posted in Caution: You've Been wEdged | Leave a comment

Putting my History/Poli Sci Degree to Use…Over at HubPages.

Posted on 10/07/2012 by wedgeblog

http://baizblogger.hubpages.com/hub/Economist-Joseph-Steiglitz-Rent-Seeking What’s ‘rent-seeking’? It’s quietly creating unearned wealth and widening the economic gap in the USA. Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz explains it to me here…

Posted in Caution: You've Been wEdged | Tagged economics, hubpages, joseph stiglitz, rent seeking | Leave a comment

Ten Good Reasons to Lose the Lottery: Why Bad Luck Might Just be Good

Posted on 09/22/2012 by wedgeblog

10. My Cat. Winning the lottery would be awful for Beats, my 15-year old mackerel tabby. Our old house is the only home he’s ever known Beats is Lord and Master of his Castle, adorned with human food servers and … Continue reading →

Posted in Caution: You've Been wEdged | Tagged being a loser, funny essays, losing the lottery, lottery, lottery curse, lottery losers, lottery winners | 1 Comment

Flipper

Posted on 09/09/2012 by wedgeblog

The New York Times last week had a feature story on the value of souvenirs, those special mementos that that transport us to special places in our past. Here’s the link (you may have to copy and paste, I’m having … Continue reading →

Posted in The wEdge of MEMORY | Tagged childhood memories, family memories, mementos, mementos from childhood, new york times souvenir story, souvenirs, travel trailers | Leave a comment

Autumn in New York: Bring it On

Posted on 09/01/2012 by wedgeblog

The alarm for autumn rings in New York City over Labor Day weekend. The pace of walkers everywhere in Manhattan quickens, the throng of tourists in midtown thins–though it amazes me that in the middle of a harsh winter, international … Continue reading →

Posted in Surreal Estate: Adventures in NYC | Tagged autumn in new york, autumn in nyc, bryant park, fall in new york city, literary prose, parenting, travel: new york in the fall, union square | 1 Comment

August Fifteenth NYC

Posted on 08/16/2012 by wedgeblog

The City soggy with joy hailed my return by halting everyone at JFK Better than a ticker-tape parade I got a two hour wash-and-wait on the tarmac a hundred feet short of Gate 8 Then, I got The … Continue reading →

Posted in Caution: You've Been wEdged, The wEdge of MEMORY | Tagged autumn in new york, free verse, new york, new york at night, new york city homage, poetry, summer in new york | Leave a comment

The Voldemort Rule: Let’s not Create a Mantra for Madmen

Posted on 08/13/2012 by wedgeblog

Hitler. Idi Amin. Osama Bin Laden, Anders Behring Breivik, Jared Lougher, Wade Michael Page. The names of the damned have a power of their own. Just saying them aloud sets up a vibration, a vulnerability, the kind of infamy … Continue reading →